RWBY: Volume 4
by Grif Hesley
Summary: Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie have taken it upon themselves to seek out Cinder Fall, who may be in Haven. While traveling, they meet an unusual character, and the group will push themselves beyond their limits to defeat the evil forces that loom over them in a race against time. Will post new chapter every Sunday.
Ruby shuddered as she walked through the snowy forest. She, Jaune, Ren, and Nora, they made the decision to journey to Haven. Never before had she felt so _useless_. Beacon was gone, Weiss was at Atlas, Blake was somewhere, and Yang…. The simple fact that she had _given up_ just destroyed Ruby. Her older sister, always bombastic, headstrong, and ready with a lame pun… Ruby couldn't bear it. Rather, she decided to search for answers.

"How much farther we gonna walk?" Jaune asked. The sun was high in the sky at this point. Ruby couldn't blame Jaune; she herself felt exhausted from walking so much. She hadn't done something of this magnitude since that fall. Fall...Ruby couldn't imagine the beautiful colors the leaves donned in autumn. Nor could she embrace the coming of winter, and play in the leaves with Yang. Her thoughts went directly to Pyrrha, on her knees, Cinder's arrow embedded in her heart. Ruby clenched her fists instinctively. She hated Cinder for that. She had always viewed her as another enemy to defeat. But that was when she was with her team. When Beacon was a safe haven for the innocent. But she had never _hated_ Cinder. She rarely hated anyone. But after that night on the Tower… Cinder needed to pay. She needed to pay for what she did to Pyrrha, to Penny, to Vale…

"Ruby?" Jaune's voice brought Ruby out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she looked at Jaune. He looked at her with a concerned expression. After that night, when Pyrrha kissed him, and her fate, he felt he couldn't lead. Ren and Nora assured him he could, but with Ruby around, he didn't mind her taking charge. Who knows? Maybe no one would die under her watch.

"Should we stop for lunch?" he asked her gently.

"Ugh! I'm starving," Nora complained.

Ren looked at Nora. "Unfortunately, I cannot cook anything for us. We have only small rations of food."

Nora whipped towards Ren, an accusing finger directed at him. "It's _your_ fault you didn't pack enough! And that you didn't make a satisfying breakfast!"

"Right, coming from the girl who gobbled up almost everything…" Ren muttered, rolling his eyes and turning away from Nora, hands behind his back. Nora huffed indignantly.

Ruby shrugged. "Can't we hunt for something?" she asked.

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, hunting. Why not? C'mon guys." He started off, drawing his sword and shield, walking west. Nora and Ren went the opposite direction. Ruby watched the two leave as they bickered, or, rather, as Nora complained to Ren while the other just nodded along. Then she turned and walked after Jaune. He walked slowly, on alert, and carefully place each foot down, so it was easy to catch up with him.

"Hey Jaune!"" She said suddenly, causing him to leap into the air in surprise.

"Ruby! Don't do that!" he said a little angrily. It wasn't that she said hi to him. It was that he had overreacted. That would get him killed.

"Sorry," Ruby said, hands behind her back in a guilty manner as she looked down at the snow, her left leg resting on her toes as they cleared a small circle of snow from her shoes.

"I'm sorry," Jaune said bashfully. He turned around and continued to walk, Ruby trailing behind. Both were silent for a while.

"So…" Ruby started awkwardly, "how've you been since...you know…"

Jaune let out a heavy sigh. "Things have been...different. It's just weird, losing Beacon to the Grimm…" His voice quieted abruptly. "Losing Pyrrha…" he barely whispered. That night, when she kissed him, he had never known. All year she had loved him, but he never noticed. Not once. Not until they were at the Tower. He sniffled and wiped his eyes; he wasn't crying, but he felt like he was about to at any moment.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. Things back home have been...well, dismal, really. Dad and Uncle Qrow spent a lot of time doing things behind doors during the day and when Yang and I were supposed to be in bed. And Yang…" Ruby let out a sigh. "Yang's different. She's distant. Almost as if she just gave up."

"Well, I don't think losing an arm like that would leave anyone happy," Jaune replied.

Ruby nodded. "I know. It's just… weird, how quiet she's been." Jaune nodded sympathetically. He could imagine Yang lying in her bed, hopeless, looking out the window.

"Yeah. I know what you you mean," he said, putting a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder. The two stood like that for a while, until Ruby abruptly looked up. She reached behind her and grabbed her scythe.

"What is it Ruby?" Jaune asked as he turned around to face whatever unknown threat had alerted her. Ruby didn't reply, but instead extended her scythe, and turned it so she held it like a sniper rifle. She aimed and fired. They heard a groan from a few meters away, and the duo ran off to find out what she had hit.

Nora and Ren, meanwhile, had armfuls of nuts and berries with them, while Nora chatted away mindlessly to her friend. They heard a shot, and they both looked in the direction from which the sound came from. They looked at each other, nodded, and ran off towards the sound, abandoning their gatherings and reaching for their weapons. "Ruby! Jaune!" Nora called.

"Ruby! Jaune!" Ren yelled out to the trees in front of them. They crossed the road and kept running.

"Ruby! Jaune!" Nora called once more, and she and Ren gave each other a look of worry.

Not too far off, they heard Ruby's innocent little voice. "Nora? Ren?" The friends soon found themselves meeting in a small clearing. "Is something wrong?" she asked with concern.

"We heard a shot, and didn't know if you were in danger," Ren explained.

"Oh! Well, I shot a deer. Sorry," she said, smiling sheepishly. Jaune looked at her with a proud smile.

Nora groaned. "We left our nuts and berries in the snow! For nothing!" She kept whining, and Ren tried to calm her down.

"Nora, they landed in snow. We can go back for them later." He then turned to Ruby. "Now, where is the deer?"

Ruby smiled. "It's just over the-" When she turned around to face the beast, her silver eyes widened in shock. It was gone! She started hyperventilating and searched frantically for the beast. "I don't understand. It was right here!" She buried her face in her hands.

Jaune jogged over. "I'm sure we'll find it soon. It couldn't have gone anywhere."

"Are you sure you killed it here?" Ren asked. Ruby nodded. "Then something must have taken it."

Nora groaned. "Are we ever gonna get some food?"

Jaune shook his head, confused. "But what could have taken it so quickly?" They heard a crow caw, and looked up. There it was, a black crow peering down at them intently. It was creepy, but to Ruby, the eyes seemed familiar. The crow looked up again and cawed once more.

Ruby turned to look at what had caught the crow's attention. Her eyes widened as she gasped. A rope dart was heading straight for her! She instinctively brought up her scythe, the blade deflecting the dart. Her three friends turned to face their attacker. The dart quickly retreated back to a hooded figure. Under it was pale green hair, the color of seaweed. A cocky smile flashed under the hood. Ruby heard her friends draw their weapons. The crow's head tilted at this sudden spectacle. The rope dart soon attached itself to a pole the figure held in his right hand. In his left, a ball. These objects, Ruby saw, revealed there were small spikes on the knuckles of his fingerless gloves. Then, he charged at them.

Ruby planted her feet, and got ready. When the moment was right, she swung her scythe with a grunt and her eyes shut. When she opened them, the figure was gone, and the sounds of battle were behind her. She turned around. The figure kicked Jaune in the breastplate while using his short spear to fend off against Ren's melee attacks. Nora jumped up, yelling, and brought her hammer down on the figure. He rolled off to the right, snow clinging to the hem of his hood. Ren used this opportunity to open fire on the figure. But he seemed to have predicted that, for just before Ren pulled the triggers, the figure was already retreating, gaining some distance. When Ren aimed at the figure, he jumped up and fired the rope dart again. It hooked onto Ren's sleeve, and the figure tugged on the rope with tremendous effort. Ren went flying up, and was soon smacked down when the figure punched the boy into the snow. Ruby saw small drops of blood on Ren's uniform where the spikes had punctured the skin. It made her angry. She yelled and sprinted at the figure just as his rope dart returned to the tip of the spear. He looked up and tried to duck away, but the tip of her scythe struck his leg, causing him to dive headfirst into the snow. He quickly turned over, holding the butt of the spear and aiming it at Ruby. One of his fingers moved, and a trigger popped out. He fired at Ruby, but she deflected the shots with her scythe. Ball still in his hand, he threw it at Ruby, but it bounced harmlessly off of her scythe and away from them. Ruby then lunged for the figure, and he raised his right arm helplessly, spear in hand…

Then he was gone, and Ruby's scythe cut into the earth. She looked around, confused, then looked up to see a blast strike her in the face with incredible power. She fell back with an "Oof!" and rubbed her head. It began to ache. She looked up as the rope dart grabbed Ruby's scythe and sent it towards the figure. Nora at this point ran at the figure, who bent down to retrieve his ball. He threw the ball against the snowy earth just as Nora began to swing, and _poof!_ He vanished again. Nora looked around, but Ruby saw where he reappeared; behind Nora. Ruby reached out with her right hand. "Nora! He's behind-!" She didn't finish because the figure kicked Nora in the back, sending her hammer bounding away. The figure used the rope dart again to grab the hammer. The figure tugged on the rope, and the hammer went flying towards him. He ducked as it cruised over his head and punched it just as it cleared over him, sending it rocketing toward Jaune. The natural blonde looked up and held his shield up to block the hammer, but the added force from the figure's punch broke through Jaune's defense, and he went flying back, the hammer nearly crushing his arm against a tree. Snow fell on him. Ruby tried to get up, but the figure pointed his spear gun at her. Nora also tried to grab Ruby's scythe, but she froze when she hear the figure draw a pistol and aim it at her. Ren groaned and sat up. The figure whistled sharply, and Ren looked up. He sat there, helpless, as the figure held his friends' lives in his hands. The figure flashed a cocky smile, but it soon vanished as he looked up and saw Qrow lunging at him, sword out, not yet fully transformed into a scythe. The figure retreated and gained some ground, but holstered his pistol and got into a combat stance, spear in his right hand. His left was balled into a fist. The two stood there, each waiting for the other to move. Then, the figure turned his spear so its butt faced Ruby. The trigger extended, and the figure wrapped his finger around it. He aimed at Ruby, but Qrow launched himself at the figure. The figure retracted the trigger and ducked out of the way of Qrow's strike, but he couldn't ready himself as Qrow began to lay down a merciless barrage on the figure. The figure blocked most of the hits, but was launched away when Qrow's sword managed to slip past the figure's defense. The figure went flying into a tree, and snow fell on him.

Nora had gotten up and held both her hammer and Ruby's scythe. She walked over to Qrow and the two exchanged glances. Nora gave Ruby her scythe back and helped her up. The two girls ran off to pick up Jaune and Ren. The figure's head popped out of the snow, his hood down. Ruby looked at him. His light green hair was messy, but beneath the hair were two sharp blue eyes and a tough complexion. There was a scar under his left eye, and he had a square jaw. He looked, Ruby thought with a gasp, about their age. Qrow walked over to the boy and held his sword to the boy's neck. "So," Qrow started, "mind explaining a few things to us?"

The boy looked at Qrow, then behind him, gazing at Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and Ren. He then looked back at Qrow and said with a smile, "Let me out from under the snow first and back home, and sure." He started to pick himself up, but Qrow stepped closer, and the tip of his sword moved an inch closer to the boy's neck.

"I'm sure you can talk to us from here," Qrow said, smiling cockily. "Your mouth works, after all."

The boy realized he was in no position to bargain, so he raised his hands. "Alright, alright. Whaddya want?"

Ruby burst out before Qrow could begin interrogating the boy. "What's your problem? Why'd you attack us?"

The boy shrugged. "Why should I trust four kids walking through my forest, four _armed_ kids, I should add, after what happened to Beacon?"

Ruby's glare softened, and she looked confused. She could see his point, but was it truly any sort of justification?

"Well then, who are you?" she asked.

The boy looked her in the eyes and smiled. "Shouldn't I ask you that? You're on my turf."

Qrow chuckled, as if humored by the boy's response. "Is that so? Then why'd you lose? Answer the question."

The boy looked at Qrow with innocent eyes and an arrogant smile. "Which one?"

Qrow took another step towards the boy, and the tip of his sword touched the boy's neck. Ruby looked at the boy. "Who are you?"

The boy held up two fingers and gently pushed Qrow's blade away, a few inches to his left. "Jordan Dawson."

Ruby hadn't heard the name, nor had any of her friends, but Qrow seemed to recognize the name. "Any relation to Edward Dawson?"

Jordan smiled. "I'm his son. What? You know him?"

Qrow nodded, smiling as if recalling a memory. "Yeah, I knew him. Went to Beacon for a semester, then left."

Jaune was confused. "Why'd he leave?"

Qrow shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't hear from him til a while later. How's he doin'?"

Jordan shrugged. "Fine. When we heard about what was happening with Beacon, we got there as soon as possible. But," He stood up and stretched, "it was too late. The Tower had been destroyed. Grimm were flocking to our location. We had to retreat. Since then, Dad's been trying to find some other way to communicate with the other kingdoms, and left me in charge of our cabin." He scowled at that last part.

Ruby frowned. "Is that bad?"

"No," he replied, looking at her. "It just makes my life boring as...well, boring." He smiled, not a cocky smile, but a true smile, a happy smile. "Well, at least I got some entertainment out of keeping the place clean. C'mon. I got deer roasting."

"The deer I shot?"

"Yeah, but I shot it first."

"How do you know?" Ruby asked.

"You can't prove it's yours," he said with a smirk, then walked off. He turned to face them. "Aren't you coming or what?" The others looked at each other and followed.

Later, after they had told Jordan their names and were well-fed, Jordan sat back in his chair and sighed contently. "Dunno why, but food always tastes better with company."

Nora looked at Ren; she had just finished off the leftovers. "I think he cooks better than you," she said with a smile. Ren looked at Jordan, offended. Nora laughed.

Ruby nodded and sighed happily. Jaune looked at Jordan anxiously. "Did you investigate the Tower at all?"

Jordan looked at Jaune with one eye open, as if his question had awoken their host. "Sure. Let's investigate an area filled with Grimm. What a good idea." His neck bent back, his hands providing his head with a cushion and, as they saw, gave him an excuse to flex. "We saw what you saw. Dragon at the top, frozen, Grimm marching through the courtyard."

Ruby looked around the place. There were lots of mechanical items strewn about. "Do you like building?" she asked. Jordan nodded, but didn't give any further answer. She noticed a guitar tucked away in the corner. "Do you play?" she inquired.

Jordan frowned, but didn't open his eyes. "Play what?"

"The guitar."

"Oh." He opened his eyes and looked at the instrument. "Yeah, every now and then. Helps kill time."

Ruby smiled. "Jaune can play too. Right Jaune?"

Jaune blushed, embarrassed. "Only a little, he admitted guiltily.

Jordan laughed at Jaune's timidity. "Ah, c'mon. Ladies love guitar players, amiright?" He chuckled.

Ruby wanted to ask if Jordan could play any songs from the Williams duo, but Qrow spoke before she could make the inquiry. "We should probably get moving. Haven's a faraway place. The more time we spend lollygagging the more time the enemy has to regroup." The Beacon students groaned in protest, but he wouldn't have any of it. "We wouldn't want to intrude on his hospitality."

Jordan eyed them curiously. "Going to Haven? Why?"

Ruby wanted to answer him, but Qrow spoke first. "Classified."

"Oh, sure. Classified. C'mon. One Hunter-in-the-making to another." He looked at the Beacon students.

But Qrow was firm. "It's classified."

Ruby blurted out, "We're trying to find the people who unleashed the Grimm onto Beacon." Qrow glared at her, and she scooted down in her seat as the temperature suddenly rose twenty degrees. "Sorry, Uncle Qrow."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "For what? Revenge? Duty?"

Ruby frowned. She had wanted to think like a Huntress, who would answer with "Duty." But after what happened to Yang, to Pyrrha, to Penny, to Beacon and Ozpin and all her friends...it was hard not to think she was on a revenge mission.

"We're Hunters and Huntresses," she said firmly. "We're doing our job."

Jordan looked satisfied with the answer. "Alright then." He stood up and stretched. "I'm coming with you." He went ahead and began cleaning up, picking up their plates in a large stack and carrying them to the sink.

Qrow frowned. "No you aren't. The Edward I know wouldn't let his son-"

"Dad takes me on missions all the time to help me train," Jordan interrupted. "His philosophy, as I'm sure you know, if we're talking about the same Edward Dawson, is that Hunters and Huntresses should be solitary, and make decisions on their own."

"Then why would you join our group?" Qrow asked, the edge of his voice slightly curious.

"It's the result of a decision I make on my own. Plus, we are Hunters and Huntresses. And graduating from Beacon doesn't confirm it." He was halfway done with scrubbing the plates. "The drive to protect humanity comes from within. The job is fueled by a passion to protect others. That's why Dad will go on missions with other Hunters and Huntresses if either side needs assistance." He put a plate away.

Qrow nodded. "We'll meet you outside."

Jordan nodded without looking at them. "Alright. Lemme pack some stuff first." He heard the Beacon students thanking him, the door opening, and then shutting.

It was snowing pretty heavily when they were outside, and Qrow immediately began walking. "Aren't we gonna wait for him?" Ruby asked her uncle.

"Nah. C'mon.I wanna be gone before he's done." Ruby didn't know why Qrow was doing this, but she followed anyway. Soon, the rest of her friends did the same, and within minutes, the cabin had vanished behind them behind a cluster of dead, snow-covered trees.

Once they were out of sight from the cabin, Qrow began to run. He really wanted to get away from Jordan, because he ran in zigzag patterns. Ruby didn't understand, but she ran with her uncle anyway. However, the more she ran, the more guilty she felt. They were abandoning Jordan, who seemed happy to go with them. She thought they might use the extra help. He was a good fighter, after all, and giving him the slip seemed rude and unfair. She didn't have to think about the morality of their decision long, because soon, Jordan caught up with them.

"Really?" he asked, and his voice brought them all to a sudden halt. "Abandoning your host? That's a little rude, don't you think?"

Ruby felt the temperature rise again, but Qrow was surprised. "How'd you find us?"

Jordan smiled. "You smell like alcohol. It wasn't that hard." Qrow bowed his head and turned away, upset at himself. Jordan shrugged. He had his hood on, but Ruby could see he had changed into armor. It was a dark black leather, with two belts criss-crossed around his waist. He wore metal bracers, but still had on his spiked fingerless gloves. He wore black leather pants and boots. His short spear was on his left side, his knife in a sheath across his chest, his gun in its holster on his right side, and his bouncy ball in his right hand. In his left, he carried a guitar case. "And now I'm here. So, let's get going."

He walked forward, taking the lead, but Qrow quickly cut him off, not letting him take charge of their journey. Jordan shrugged and fell back to walk with the Beacon students as the sun began to descend behind them.


End file.
